Confessions of a Wino

There are some cracking wines coming out of South West France, especially Languedoc, right now.  Sadly this isn’t one of them.

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A recent Sunday lunch in London lead to a worrying discovery.  My favourite haunt for a wine aperitif, 1707 Wine Bar in Fortnum and Mason basement, no longer opens on Sunday.

Forced into trying somewhere new, the Ritz doormen, just along Piccadilly took exception to my smart jeans (yet they tolerate Michael Winner).  The Wolseley had welcomed us the day before (and warned me not to darken their door again in a rush).  And picking on someone nearer my own age, Madonna’s ex-local didn’t appeal.  I wanted wine.

In a frustrated fit of anxiety (that I would have to go to lunch without a wine warm-up) I remembered Selfridges, a mere 10 minute stroll up Park Lane.

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I was invited to Live Earth.  What a dilemma.  All tickets cost £55.  I went free.  Should I make a charitable donation to some worthy cause?  Which cause exactly?  I mean this was not a charity event, it was about awareness, man.  Quite a hippy concept really, but played out in the hard commercial word of the new millennium.  Some of the messages from the various entertainers who participated were more genuine than others but I have to admit to laughing.  It’s not very rock and roll having some pop idol jumping on stage and telling us all not to leave our TVs on standby, before launching into some familiar guitar riff.

There were also doubts about the CO2 created by the event itself.  I travelled public transport all the way, only to see the Black Eyed Peas being helicoptered in to Wembley for Al Gore’s denouement.

All in all though, a fantastic day out.  It’s not often you get to see such a high class line up.  Here’s the pictures:

Firstly my (somewhat feeble) attempt at a panoramic view of Wembley.

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